I said in another thread I'd share my thoughts on the rumor about Harbaugh getting and extension, so I'll do that here. As of right now, I like it. John Harbaugh is not the best coach in the NFL, but can anyone name 10 easily better? I know I can't. So keeping that in mind, it likely isn't easy to replace a top 10 coach with a better coach. Yeah, Harbaugh has clock management issues. Yeah he occasionally makes dumb challenges. But one thing you can't take away from him is the fact his players respond to him. They play for him. That's big imo. The biggest knock on the Ravens under Harbaugh is how they do against good to great teams. We usually beat the teams we are supposed to, and that's bigger than many realize. Ask Steelers fans how much happier they would be if their team could consistently beat the teams they are supposed to beat. Considering many have spent years complaining about the talent the team signs and drafts, if you think the players are that good then you have to respect the coach who almost never gets blown out, even against elite teams. But the man reason I'm good with a Harbaugh extension is honestly Lamar Jackson and his offense. This is not a knock on Joe for the record, but with Joe under the center, we led the league in pass attempts. The problem with that isn't Joe, but the other pieces you need for that type of offense. Baltimore has NEVER been able to develop WRs. The o-line isn't built to consistently pass block either. Meanwhile, the o-line is very good and run blocking and the team is very good at developing RBs and TEs. As we can see, RBs and TEs are key in Jackson's offense. When you finally have an offensive scheme that plays to the team's strengths, you need a HC that can get the team ready to play against anyone. The Ravens are 5-1 since the scheme was changed, and honestly could have been 6-0. Before switching the HC, I would see about finding a better OC. That 3rd and 5 play from inside our on 10 was just stupid. 1 receiver on the field, that I saw, and it was your #4 WR. On a roll out which pretty much limits your target options anyway. Marty is as inconsistent as Jackson is throwing, sometimes great and sometimes he makes you think WTF......but I digress. Anyway, this is just my view on things. Ozzie did in fact build a great defense, and with the ball control style, this team can beat anyone right now. They'll become more dangerous as Jackson continues to develop and I think Harbaugh is the type of coach that fan motivate his team week in and week out and keep them playing at their best. We'll see if the extension rumors are true, but I won't be upset at all if they are.
Once this team got rid of Dean Pees and his annoying ass defensive philosophy and inserted Wink, who plays more of a Pagano, Ryan style of attack D, our defense has flourished. Marlon Humphrey and Weddle have played outstanding football which has tightened up the entire Defense the last few weeks as well. As for the offense, early on when Flacco was still our guy, they had to style the offense around his strengths, which is his arm strength and the ability to throw accurately (for the most part). Defense's knew that Joe wasn't going to run, and they know that he loves to check down if his first option isn't there, so they started playing 2 deep with bump coverage on the TE/RB, which was amazingly effective after the first quarter of the season when team's allowed John Brown to go deep and get big catches. The front seven didn't have to worry about anyone getting outside on them so they just kept crashing in on Joe and the offense went to pot. With Lamar Jackson in, this offense has become FAR more unpredictable in that Lamar has been allowed the freedom to do multiple things once he has the ball. This has opened up the rush game immensely because defense's no longer can crash the middle because if they do, Lamar or Gus or Kenneth can get outside for huge gains. This uncertainty has also allowed our TE's more freedom down the field as the opposing defenses can no longer keep their LB shadowing them early on in the routes anymore. Once Lamar gets more experience reading the safeties, I believe he will start hitting our WR in the intermediate game (15-30 yard windows) with more consistency but all in all, the offense is just PLAIN BETTER with Lamar in as our QB. I feel for Joe, but his time as a Raven is over. I expect Jacksonville will be calling with a trade package after the season for him and the Ravens would be stupid not to take it. As for John Harbaugh, He was definitely going to be fired after the season. I believe that Lamar Jackson has saved his job for at least another season. There is no question that the team hasn't quit on him though, and that is a HUGE factor in his also being retained. If that locker room had decided to quit and they haven't went on this impressive run lately, then he would be gone and Mike McCarthy would have been called about the spot. In the end though, he still has the team behind him and as long as that is happening, he will continue to be our Head Coach.
